sea_claire:

You asked; "So, is the lake planted? Are the coho being caught juveniles or landlocked adults?
Your answers are: Yes some of the coho in the lake are planted; and yes they are also wild smolts!


glowball

I don't know what this "Wade" person is smoking, buy it must be something like our "local weed"! I would have hoped that you would have done your homework better before you made your unfounded reply.

Fact: Last year over 85,000 Adult coho reached the Barrier Dam.

Fact: 90% of those coho were taken above the dams for "natural production".

Fact: no less then 5000 of those adult coho were unmarked "wild coho".

Fact: Coho successfully have spawned above the dams for hundreds of years.

Fact: Last year over 5,025 wild fry were caught at the Cowlitz Falls traps.

Fact: Last year over 54,645 coho smolts were caught at the Cowlitz Falls traps.

Fact: The Cowlitz Falls reservoir experiences as many as 10 or more draw-downs a year. When the reservoir is drawn is drawn down, as many as 75% or more of the fish that have been swept down into Cowlitz Falls Reservoir get swept into Riffle Lake during the draw downs! Since the collection facilities currently only has about 45% collection ability for coho, that simply means that hundreds of thousands of fry (many are wild) and smolts are being dumped into Riffe lake each and every year.

Did this Mr. "Wade" forget to tell you that? I knew a "Wade" who once used to work up there, and if it is the same Wade, he is no biologist! He was just a worker who trucked fish down river and does old jobs (i.e. hauling smolts to the Barrier Dam). It is true that coho do not "successfully spawn" in Riffle Lake, but you are forgetting about the thousands of adults that spawn above Riffle Lake. These adults that are now spawning above Riffle Lake are now largely responsible for much of the natural production of coho in riffle Lake!

The "clip" on my shoulder comes from people like you who takes some uninformed persons "second hand information" and then tries to BS his way out when he has gotten called to the table! You guys kill me sometimes; for some crazy reason you think that ever guy who does creel checks, drive a fish truck, or checks a stream, is a fish "biologist".

You really need to ask them, and you may really get surprised! I don't known how much more "informative" a guy can be!

So glowball, next time do your home better, and then come back and we will see who the one in need of a vacation is. (jk)

Oh yea, did I forget to tell you that I also have been a member of the "Cowlitz Falls Fishery Technical Committee" (FTC) for over 8 years now. . . you known, the same one that Salmo G is on!

Cowlitzfisherman



Cowlitzfisherman